Unseen
by Rainbows n' Pixie Dust
Summary: Upon awaking, Hermione finds that a concussion she suffered has caused her to temporarily lose her sight. A mysterious boy who won't give her his real name but who seems to know quite a lot about her has saved her from an evident death. Who is he and did he save her? (written in Hermione's POV)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again lovelies!**

**Sorry I haven't posted for a long, long time...had some other writing projects to work on(and finish, now I've got two book manuscripts to finish editing) I couldn't procrastinate with this plot bunny any longer, so here you go :) Enjoy the mystery.**

The world beyond my eyelids seemed hushed, the very few noises I could hear quiet and muffled. Struggling to regain full consciousness, I attempted to open my eyes. When I still only saw darkness, I tried again.

Nothing changed.

I jumped slightly when I felt a wet towel dab at my forehead, for I hadn't known there had been someone else nearby. Whoever had been there pulled away quickly upon noticing my awakening.

"You're awake." The voice was male, not very old. In my mind, I pictured a boy around my age. It sounded familiar to my ears, though I was unable to name how or why. I knew I had heard that voice before.

I opened my mouth to answer the voice, but discovered that my voice was hoarse and barely audible, my throat drier than the Sahara. Mere moments after my failed attempt of speaking, I felt someone help me up slightly and lift a glass to my lips. I drank thankfully, wondering who my saviour was.

Once I'd drank enough, the boy set me back down onto the bed gently, as though I were to be a fragile bird of some sorts.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly.

"Don't you recognise me?" The voice questioned, sounding astonished for some reason.

"Do I know you?" I asked in response.

"..you could say that." The voice said. "How do you not know me?"

"How could I know you? I cannot see you." I replied.

That silenced the voice for quite a while. "What do you mean you can't see me?"

I sighed deeply. "I cannot see anything. There is no difference between my eyes being closed or open."

I felt someone's cool fingertips near my eyes, gently moving my eyelids around a bit as he examined my eye.

"Probably from the concussion..." The voice muttered.

"Wait." I said. "Concussion? What happened? Where am I?"

"It was a few days ago when I found you a few miles from here, unconscious, on a creek bed. You were bleeding from the side of your head and a few other places, as well as being severely cold. I carried you back to my hut and have been taking care of you for a few days now. You had high fever. Well, you still do, but it's gone down a bit."

"Why didn't you take me to the hospital? I'm blind for goodness sake!" I huffed.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to take the famous Hermione Granger to a hospital which is monitored by death eaters when she is supposed to be fleeing them." The voice replied coolly, starting again to dab my forehead with the wet towel.

"Oh."

"Here, take this potion." The voice instructed, helping me up again and lifting a glass to my lips. The potion stung my tongue and tasted horrible, but I obediently drank it. When the boy set me back onto the bed, I was barely awake.

The last thing I heard was him tucking me in and whispering to me a good night.

"Good night." I mumbled, turning to my side and closing my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**If you guys would bother telling me how the story is going and stuff in the review dooblydoo, that'd be great X)**

* * *

The next time I awoke my head was thudding with a massive headache. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that I was still unable to see a thing.

"Good morning." The boy said. "How are you feeling?"

I groaned slightly. "My head hurts." I didn't really want to complain, but the headache was truly unbearable.

"I'll give you a potion for it if you'd like."

I nodded slightly, and I heard the boy walk over to the other side of the room and begin to fiddle around with glass bottles. For a while, the only sound that I could hear was the melodic clink-clank of the glass bottles and glasses.

"Here. Drink this."

I drank the foul-tasting potion, and though I tried my best I still had to frown at the taste. I heard the boy chuckle slightly, then help me up so that I was sitting up while resting on some pillows.

"Do you think you can eat?"

I still felt weak, and now that it was mentioned I noticed I was a tad unsure of whether my stomach would be able to handle a lot of food at once.

"I can try." I replied, knowing that I couldn't go on without food.

The boy vanished for another while, and I spent those few minutes just sitting back, thinking about all that had happened. I still didn't know the boys' name, or where exactly I was. I didn't know whether the boy was trying to stay anonymous or just had forgotten that he hadn't told me his name.

It had probably been about fifteen minutes until the boy returned, placing a tray in my lap.

"Oh, shoot. You can't see." He stated.

"So?"

"You don't think you'll be able to eat on your own, do you?"

"Probably not." I confessed.

I heard something metallic hit a plate, and soon after I felt a spoon at my lips. I couldn't help but feel a tad awkward, being spoon fed like a little child.

He fed me some sort of scrambled eggs, just tiny bits, and some sausage. Every now and then he stopped to ask me whether I was full or not.

I only managed to eat about five spoonfuls of scrambled eggs and one small sausage before I felt like my stomach couldn't take any more.

He took the plate away and was gone for quite a while, probably nearer to half an hour or so. When he returned, I was able to hear a paper rustling.

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Awake enough to listen if I read you the news?"

I nodded, and listened as the boy folded the paper open and inhaled sharply at the sight of the headlines.

"What is it?" I asked as he didn't begin to read.

"It's just..." The voice began. "Well, I'll read it to you. 'Hermione Granger, friend and ally of Potter, dead?'"

I gasped. "Dead? How'd they figure that?"

"- Reports from Snatchers tell us that they caught Ms. Granger on the evening of October 21st. On their way to take her to be reported as a muggleborn, the girl was injured and managed to escape them. After a whole week of awaiting, we have come to believe that the girl must have died from her injuries; having been lost in the woods, there is no way she could've survived with the injuries the Snatchers reported to us."

"They think I'm dead?" I questioned. "Wait. Harry and Ron..."

They must've thought I was dead as well. All my other friends, the Weasleys. Everyone.

"Good thing you aren't." The voice said.

"Who are you?" I asked. "You seem to know quite a lot about me, while I do not even know your name."

The voice was quiet for quite a while. "My name is Derek."

"I don't know a Derek." I thought aloud. "How do you know me?"

"We were in the same year at Hogwarts. I only saw you a few times."

"What house were you in?"

"Ravenclaw."

"Maybe I just don't remember." I equivocated, though I had my doubts.

"What exactly did happen? With the Snatchers and all? I only found you four days after your said capture, if the paper is correct."

I grimaced slightly. "Uh...well, Harry, Ron and I have this...mission. I can't really tell you anything about that. But the Snatchers found us some way or another. I distracted them while Harry and Ron fled. I told them I'd be right after them, but then one of the Snatchers stunned me and that was that. They took me to some place I cannot name. They brought death eaters, knowing who I was and such. The death eaters tortured me, trying to get me to speak. B-Bellatrix was there, along with a few others."

I could hear Derek inhale sharply, but when he said nothing I continued. "When spells didn't work, they moved onto physical torture. They cut me. They hit and beat me."

"I saw the bruises and cuts." Derek said sadly. "You'll have quite a lot of scars."

"One of the Snatchers kicked me in the head. A day later I began throwing up, and was barely conscious. The Snatchers got scared and apparated somewhere, abandoning me there to die."

"And then I found you..." Derek muttered. "No wonder you seem so...harmed. That sounds terrible."

I coughed and nodded. "I just...I don't really know what to do. All my friends think I'm dead. The whole world thinks I'm dead. There's a war going on out there."

"I know."

"Why are you here?"

"Hiding."

"From what?"

"The war. Death eaters. Everything."


	3. Chapter 3

**So glad to hear that a few of you have already found my story X) Keeps me motivated **

* * *

Life without seeing is quite strange, to be honest. Time passes quickly and slowly, and being bored is a constant issue that I face.

Derek tries to help my situation the best he can. He reads me stories and articles, and we often talk for hours about different things. He leaves the radio on whenever he goes out so that I'd have something to listen to.

I had tried to figure out who he really was over the past few days. I knew that he wasn't telling me the whole truth. Derek wasn't his real name, but as I didn't have anything better to call him, I called him Derek.

I'd been staying at his hut for a week or so when he one day came in, sounding extremely worried.

"I need to hide you. My parents are coming, soon."

"What?"

"I just received an owl."

"Weren't you hiding? How do they know where you are?"

"Sort of. How and where do I hide you?"

"Can't you explain to them?"

"They won't understand." Derek said quickly. "I can't hide you in the hut."

He suddenly picked me up from the bed and carried me over to a couch, putting me down gently as ever.

I listened as he dashed about the hut, working on something I couldn't see or hear. It took him probably an hour, and during that hour I just sat on the couch, trying to get hints of what he was working on from listening.

"I made an underground cellar. It's already got a duplicate of a bed in there, with some other things. You think you could manage in there for a few hours?" He asked, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

"How do you just 'make a cellar'?" I questioned.

"Magic."

"Ah." I exclaimed. "Didn't think of that."

"Would you?"

"I don't see a choice." I sighed.

"Thank you." Derek breathed, picking me up again and heading somewhere. He sat me onto the floor and climbed down into what I assumed was the cellar, then levitated me gently down and placed me upon the bed. It was colder and wetter underground, but I chose not to complain. I was his guest, after all.

"_Silencio_."

I couldn't help but panic a bit when I heard him silence the cellar. Everything fell silent. For the past week or so, I'd relied on my hearing far more than any other sense. Now it had been taken away from me.

"He's going to suffer for that." I muttered. Or I think I did. Since it was completely silent, I couldn't hear what I'd said. I could only assume I'd said that.

I'd been sitting up for quite a while, and I noticed myself beginning to feel a tad light-headed. Seeing no other way to pass the time except to fall asleep, I laid back down onto the bed and pulled the covers over myself.

* * *

_The dark closet was silenced. Nothing I did made a sound, not a single thud or punch on the wall made any difference except to cause even more pain in my hands. _

_I was so tired. My hair hung in front of my face as a tangled curtain, hiding my bloodshot eyes and bruised face. _

_I just wanted to get out. I felt so worthless, so helpless. Harry and Ron had probably already moved on with their task. They had to. If they began searching for me, they were ought to get caught. And I didn't want that. _

_The side of my head thudded with stinging pain. I didn't even bother to lift my hand up to see whether the bleeding had ceased. I could still feel the stickiness of the blood._

_I couldn't even see properly anymore. Everything was sort of blurry, and there were quite a few blind spots. _

_Well, there wasn't much to see in my prison._

_The door to the closet opened with force, and I had to blink rapidly to get used to the blinding brightness of the room that was beyond my closet. _

_Someone grabbed my arm roughly and began dragging me out. I was too tired to cry out in pain, though they had grabbed my broken arm. I was too exhausted._

_This time seemed different; it wasn't the death eaters who had come for me. It was the Snatchers. Their eyes seemed panicked, and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened._

_They apparated somewhere. The wet ground and damp smell of leaves reminded me of a forest. _

_"Mudblood." The Snatcher spat, dropping me to the ground. I had no energy to reply, no resources to make myself move. This was it. They were going to kill me. It would finally be over._

_But then I heard the distinct sound of someone apparating. The killing curse never came. The pain never entered my body. _

_They were gone._


	4. Chapter 4

I don't know how long it was until Derek came back. I was half asleep, half awake, in the sweet midlands where no one really knows what's going on and time has no stand whatsoever.

I didn't realise I'd curled up in a ball while sleeping. That is, until Derek came and pointed it out.

"What's wrong?"

I looked up with my unseeing eyes, towards the direction where I presumed he was standing.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't look okay."

"Then I guess I'm not okay." I replied.

I felt someone shuffle to sit next to me on the bed. "What is it?"

"How should I know?"

"You should."

I waited for a while, thinking he was going to say something. But, when he remained silent, I sighed and gave it a thought.

"I don't know..." I murmured. "It might be because this cellar...the silence...the dark..." I inhaled sharply. "It all reminds me of the..."

"Your capture?" Derek finished politely. I simply nodded, feeling I'd burst to tears otherwise. I didn't know why. I was talking to a complete stranger. The last thing I wanted was to cry in front of him.

"I didn't realise..." He apologised. "But I had to. I didn't want them to hear you."

_"_Or me to hear them." I murmured.

"Maybe."

"Why do you hide things from me?" I questioned him. "I cannot see. I cannot survive on my own at the current moment. I am void of a wand or any clue of where I am. I don't even know your name. I am as vulnerable as a little baby. And yet, I trust you. But I don't know how long I can trust you if I don't know the truth about you."

Derek sighed. "I won't tell you my name. I can't, okay? You...you'd judge me."

"How?"

"You would try to run away. You wouldn't want to stay here."

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you." Derek murmured.

It was silent for quite a long time. Then, suddenly, I heard that one word I didn't want to hear.

"Obliviate."

* * *

My mind was erased blank.

"What were we talking about?" I asked, feeling a bit dazed.

"About how I'm sorry I left you into the cellar. I know it probably reminds you of your capture."

"How'd you know?"

"This reminds me of a cell. C'mon, let's go." Derek said. It seemed as though he was only trying to sound happy; I couldn't help but wonder what he'd been on about.

He picked me up and helped me out of the cellar, then sealed the floor with some spells. It was amazing how many spells he knew; some of which he used were far beyond the standard level ability. He seemed to be quite intelligent for his age.

As I turned my head, I noticed something in my dark field of vision. A fleeting spot of light, unlike the others that I'd seen before. I couldn't help the cry that escaped my lips, and immediately as I did so, Derek rushed over.

"What is it?"

"I saw something."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite sure." I replied. "A light. I haven't seen a light before."

"Maybe you're regaining your vision." For some reason, Derek sounded sad.

"That'd be great. No, amazing." I said excitedly. My stomach interrupted me with a churning growl. "Perhaps I should eat."

"Was about to suggest so." Derek said.

He helped me eat my dinner, though I didn't need as much help now when compared to what it had been before. I did tend to ask him what it was I was about to eat, but otherwise I was pretty much able to operate on my own.

The rest of the night flew by, with Derek and I discussing just everything there was to discuss. For the first time in a week, I didn't need a sleeping potion to go to sleep; I was happily tired.


	5. Chapter 5

During the days that I was regaining my vision, Derek seemed to become more and more reticent. He seemed to avoid me all he could, pulling to himself and avoiding any long conversations. It was as though he was trying to estrange me.

At first it was just a few lights here and there, but joyful was the day when I awoke to see the world, though blurrier than ever. Slowly my vision clarified, bit by bit.

Then came the day that I opened my eyes to a clear world. I could see every detail of the hut, every nook and corner. Derek wasn't there yet; the door was slightly open, signifying that he'd probably gone out for a walk. I was overjoyed; finally I could go out and find out just who Derek was.

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed, not caring to find shoes for myself. I was wearing Derek's sweatpants and his hoodie, as my clothes had been, well, bloody and ragged. I slowly progressed to stand up while leaning heavily against the bedpost, unsure of whether my feet would actually carry me if I let go.

I let go of the post, and nearly fell to the ground. Clearly I needed more practice. Just the concentration that the attempt had taken caused a small headache to begin budding at the back of my head, but I pushed it aside and began wavering towards the door.

I saw Derek the moment I reached the door. He was outside, leaning against a tree, facing away from me.

He had distinguishable platinum blonde hair, and broad shoulders. He was about the same height as Harry and Ron.

I just stood there, staring at him. I already had a hunch of who it was.

_Derek._

_Draco._

"Malfoy?"

The boy whirled around quickly, his eyes widening when he saw me standing in the doorway.

"Granger." He stated quietly. "You can see?"

I just stared at him. "It was you? The entire time?"

He shrugged and looked away. "I told you you'd judge me."

"No you didn't." I shook my head.

"I did. But then I erased your memory so that you'd forget that conversation."

I couldn't believe his nerve. Not only had he erased my memory, but he'd done many things I would've never let him do.

I had been spoon fed by Draco Malfoy for fuck's sake. He had helped me change. He...

_He had saved me._

"Why?"

He looked confused. "Why what?"

"Why'd you save me?"

"I'm not inhuman."

"Could just as well be." I muttered.

"Here you go judging again." He said darkly. "It was much better when you couldn't see me."

I sighed, leaning heavily against the doorway. I was tired. My eyelids were drooping, my brain barely functioning any longer. His whole attitude seemed to change in a flying moment, him eyeing me carefully.

"You should go back to bed." He suggested quietly.

"Why should I do what you tell me to?" I protested.

"Because you clearly aren't well yet." He said. "Just go. I don't think either of us wants you to get any sicker."

I huffed, angry to be forced to show him that he was right. I _was_ tired.

As I turned around and took a few steps, heading back to my bed, I could feel my balance failing. But before I could come in contact with the ground I could feel him catch me, like he had done so many other times when I'd been trying to walk on my own. Without uttering a word, he carried me over to the bed and placed me into it, pulling the covers over me.

"Rest." He ordered quietly. "You aren't quite fine yet."

I frowned at him and turned to my side, closing my eyes and trying to go to sleep.

That, however, didn't happen. I couldn't stop thinking, the thoughts far too loud for me to handle. So, I turned to lay on my back and stared at the ceiling.

So Malfoy was my knight in shining armour. Would've never thought that was ought to happen.

But why?

He'd said he wasn't inhuman. But he could've just apparated and abandoned me at the doorstep of St. Mungo's. That would've been a reasonable thing to do.

But to carry me a few miles in the cold to his hut and take care of me...that was different. It surely was unmalfoylike.

Derek and Draco were two different people for sure. Derek had been so...kind. Intelligent, caring.

Malfoy was probably all those, but there was just this air about him that reminded me of all the horrible things he'd said to me.

As I looked around the hut, I saw him, on the couch, reading a book.

Suddenly I came to realise something. I was laying on the only bed in the hut.

He'd given up his bed for me, and slept on that short and uncomfortable couch he was sitting upon at the current moment.

Yet again, this was something I just couldn't quite come to understand.

The Malfoy I knew would've made me sleep on the couch. He would've taken me to St. Mungo's and left me in the care of others. He wouldn't have brought me to his runaway hut and taken care of me. He wouldn't have spoon-fed me.

It was all just so overwhelming.

Perhaps this all was just some sort of plan of his. He was probably just waiting to abandon me somewhere. To hurt me.

Maybe he was only here to imprison. I still didn't know whether he was a death eater or not.

He could've been.

I wanted to find out.

With a sigh, I turned to my side and closed my eyes, finally letting myself to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again guys, how's it going?**

**It's been about 12 hours or so since I published the first chapter of this story, and already 53 people have read this. To my standards, that's pretty cool. So hello to you guys, hope you enjoy my story X) **

* * *

He was gone when I woke up. The hut was empty, but I soon discovered a plate of now cold scrambled eggs and toast along with a note.

_I've gone to town to run some errands. Will be back around eleven or so. _

_- D.M_

I found it strange how formally he'd formatted the small note, along with the fact that his handwriting was far fairer than what I'd seen any other boy scribble.

I ate the piece of toast, but was unable to force down the scrambled eggs as a mild wave of nausea passed over me.

I scrambled my way to the couch and sat down, forcing myself to relax and calm down. I laid back and closed my eyes, trying to think of relaxing things. A quiet library. A forest grove.

But when I opened my eyes, all I could see was a cell; the walls of the hut seemed far too close, leaning and imprisoning me inside them.

In my mind, I was back in the closet. Panic aroused within me, and in that panicked state I stood up rapidly, dashing out of the door and into the forest.

I just wanted to escape; to get out of the prison, to go outside where I could breathe freely. When I made it outside, I wanted to get as far away from that prison as I could, scrambling down the slowly descending slope. The frosty ground crunched underneath my bare feet, my feet leaving gentle trails onto the inch of snow that covered the forest floor.

It was raining cold rain outside, the water soon wetting my hair and clothes. I didn't mind the stinging coldness of the outdoors; it felt so refreshing. It made me feel so alive.

I'd only probably made it half a mile or so away from the hut when I came across a grove that seemed different from the others. The moment I ceased running, the whole world seemed to spin. The next second I was laying on the ground, my head swimming as I slowly blacked out.

#

_Draco's POV_

I'd only been gone for two hours or so when I returned to the hut, only to discover the door narrowly open and Granger gone. I saw she had seen my note, and eaten half of her breakfast.

Setting the groceries onto the table, I began searching the hut to see whether she'd taken anything with her. Maybe a jacket, or a proper pair of shoes.

I was shocked to see that nothing was gone.

Granger was out there, in the wintery forest, in nothing else but a pair of sweatpants and a t shirt. She'd still had fever this morning when I'd checked.

"This isn't good." I murmured, grabbing my jacket and heading out of the door.

I stood in front of the hut for a while, thinking of where she'd gone. I examined the tracks and trails in the snow around the hut, and was relieved when I found her trail.

It led down the hill, and the overall messiness of the trail suggested that she'd been wavering with her steps. I practically ran, or slid, down the hill, hoping dearly she hadn't done anything harmful to herself.

The rain had ceased, leaving a grey fog floating about the forest. It wasn't thick enough to cause any problems with seeing things around; it was more of just like the overall feeling in and about the forest.

I found her lying at the middle of a grove, her clothes soaking wet. She was unconscious, and by what I could figure she was suffering from hypothermia. I wrapped her in my jacket the best I could, then picked her up gently and headed back to the hut.

Since I'd jogged all the way back to the hut, it wasn't until I'd stopped jogging and gone inside the hut that I noticed she was shaking. I tried her forehead briefly, only to discover it was cool and clammy. This morning it'd been feverish. I knew this wasn't very good.

After quickly drying up her clothes with a spell, I put her into the bed and tucked her in. When she still seemed to continue shivering, I went over and got all blankets in the hut, covering her with them.

She still seemed to be cold.

I'd already tried all the spells I knew. And I knew the last thing I could do to help her was something she was sure to kill me for.

But she was still shivering.

I decided to act against her wishes, and quickly took of my shoes and jacket, then climbed into the bed beside her. I knew that my body heat would be able to warm her up. The only problem was that she would probably kill me if I tried to lay next to her.

Or if she found out later.

The bed wasn't overly wide, and for a while I was half dangling off the side of it. Then, in her sleep, Granger let out a gentle sigh and rolled over to face my chest. Her hand came to rest next to my chest, relaxed and limp.

For a moment, I just laid there, unsure of whether I should hug her or not.

I mean, we were enemies. We hated each other.

Well, not necessarily hate. But we surely couldn't go about embracing each other.

But neither would I let myself be uncomfortable while Granger was comfortable.

So, I reached over and hugged her gently, trying my best to warm her up and yet not wake her.

Even though it'd only been lately that I'd woken up, being finally able to lay in a real bed instead of being scrunched up in that tiny sofa began to take it's price. I tried to fight it, but finally I gave in and just let myself fall asleep while embracing the girl I'd hated most of my life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Murry chrismus to you all out there! Please keep reviewing so I know whether you guys actually want me to continue this story**

* * *

I woke up in Malfoy's arms, my head pressed gently to his chest. He was still sleeping, his face calm in his sleep.

I couldn't simply think of any sort of reason as to why I was laying in bed with him. I had no distinct memory of the previous events whatsoever. For all I knew, anything could've happened.

I panicked a bit at the thought of this, and moved around a bit so that he'd wake up. Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to stir in his sleep, and groggily open his eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, still surprised.

He simply let go of me and rolled off of the bed, moving over to sit in the seat beside the bed.

"Why'd you leave the hut?" He replied, still sounding half-asleep.

"I..."

"When I found you, you were barely alive!" He snapped. "Don't go about risking your life. I've saved it twice now, and I'm getting sick of it. Leave the foolhardy risks for Saint Potter."

"Foolhardy risks?" I questioned. "I only left the hut because..."

I didn't want to tell him. So I just gaped at him with my mouth slightly open, trying to think of something.

"Because?" He asked.

"Uh..." I flushed and looked away.

"What is it?"

"I don't..." I took a deep breath. "I don't think it belongs to you."

"Okay, you've got a choice. Either you tell me...or I use Legilimency on you. Your choice."

I groaned and glared at him. "You're insufferable."

"And Derek isn't?" He replied.

"Fine." I said. "I felt like the hut was a prison. I wanted to get out, so I did."

"That's it?"

"It's not as simple as what it sounds like." I mumbled, all malice gone from my voice.

Malfoy was quiet for quite a long while. "Listen, Gra-Hermione."

I was surprised he'd use my given name. To be honest, I was surprised he even _knew_ my first name.

"Yes?"

"Why do you despise me so much?"

"Because you're Draco Malfoy. You've taunted me from my first year. You teased me, you called me names. Not to mention you attacked me in second year."

"As did you in our third year." He pointed out.

"You deserved that one."

"You've met my father, am I correct?"

"What's that got to do with this?"

"He's an insufferable arse-kissing git." Malfoy stated calmly, though I was shaken by his harsh words towards his own father. "Imagine being raised in his household. Just imagine that for a second."

"Okay, I get it, you may have not had the best childhood. But that doesn't just give you the right to go around insulting people."

"No, it doesn't. But what I did in the past gives you no right to judge me now."

"What choice do I have?"

"What did you think of Derek?" He interjected. "You didn't judge him. You were fine with talking with him like he were a normal person."

"Yes, but-"

"Derek is me." He continued. "What difference is there between him and I? Nothing."

"Actually..." I began. "Derek and I had no earlier history whatsoever. You and I do. Of course I'd judge you for what you did in the past."

"Aren't you listening?" Malfoy muttered. "Derek _is_ me. We are the same person."

"What do you want from me? Why do you want to prove yourself to me so badly?"

"I just..."

Sigh.

"I want to show everyone that I am not who they think I am. And..."

He fell silent. I watched his face, trying to get a hint of what he was about to say.

"I really enjoyed just talking with you. When I was Derek. You're not like everyone else. You've got wit."

"So, in other words, you want to be my friend?" I asked.

He nodded. "If you...are willing to give me a chance."

I shrugged and smiled a bit. "I can try...Draco."


End file.
